China on Monday asserted that its cooperation with Cambodia should not be "over interpreted" after a US media report said that Beijing has inked a secret deal with Phnom Penh to allow Chinese forces to use the Ream naval base in the strategically placed Southeast Asian country.
Citing officials from the US and allied nations, the Wall Street Journal reported that the pact signed recently gives China exclusive rights to part of the Cambodian naval installation on the Gulf of Thailand, not far from a large airport now being constructed by a Chinese company.
Both sides have not disclosed the details, it added.
Some details of the final deal were unclear, the paper quoted an official as saying but an early draft, seen by US officials, would allow China to use the base for 30 years, with automatic renewals every 10 years after that. China would be able to post military personnel, store weapons and berth warships, according to the draft.
Such an arrangement would boost China's ability to assert its territorial claims in the South China Sea (SCS). China claims nearly all of the SCS, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it.
On Monday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen termed the media report as a "fake news."
"Why does Cambodia need the presence of Chinese military on its territory?" he asked. "We have never even discussed this with Chinese leaders, not to mention about the signing of the agreement."
He said, "(They) should stop using 'fake news' on the presence of Chinese armed forces in Cambodia's territory to campaign against us."
Asked whether like Cambodia he is denying the report about Chinese military to make use of the base, Geng reiterated "as I said we hope relevant sides do not over interpret the cooperation between China and Cambodia."
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